RANCHO SAN DIEGO  Did you ever like a college course so much, learn so much taking the class, have so much success in it, that you wanted to take it again? And again?

Students of Cuyamaca College's Music Industry Seminar, part of its Music Industry Studies program, can take the class four times at the Rancho San Diego campus.

And many of them, like 2011 Grossmont High alum Curt Owen, do.

A project-based class, students develop and create a set of promotional materials for a local musical artist or group as the course content combines work in recording, print and electronic media. The seminar is a part of the degree program that provides lower division preparation for students who want to transfer to a four-year program in music industry studies. The program combines training in music theory, literature and performance with studies in music technology and business.

The seminar is one of the highlights of the program because it leads up to a howling good time -- the Coyote Music Festival, where student-musicians like Owen get to show what they've learned in class with hands-on detail. It's the fifth anniversary of the event, said Cuyamaca instructor Annie Zuckerman. She said the festival was initially was set up by Pat Setzer, now a dean.

With a background in marketing, Zuckerman leads students charged with festival promotions, while co-instructor Jolene Crowley, an adjunct graphic arts instructor, works with the student team in charge of creating festival art, including posters and fliers. Lead instructor Taylor Smith, chair of the music department, works with students running the audio and technical aspects of the event.

This year's festival will be held Saturday, May 4 on the Grand Lawn at Cuyamaca. Owen, a 19-year-old acoustic guitar-playing singer-songwriter in the style of Jason Mraz, Jack Johnson and John Mayer, is part of an eclectic set of performers that will play from noon until 5 p.m. Owen will take the stage from 2:45 until 3:10 p.m.

"This semester will be my third in the music industry seminar class," Owen said. "The class is required as part of the transfer program, so after this semester I will need to take it one more time before I have all of the seminar credits that I need. In planning for the festival, the class is broken up into teams that each work on separate tasks to get the festival up and running. This being my third time in the class, I have now been on all three of the different committees."

Owen first was on the promotions team, which helped him "understand a little bit about what goes into planning and promoting a show. This helped me be able to promote my own music more effectively with shows that I was a part of outside the class," he said.

The second time around, Owen was part of the stage crew and setup team.

"I already knew a bit about equipment and setting up for a live performance, but working with new equipment and different setups for different bands was a much more challenging task than just setting up for my own band, which is what I had gotten used to," he said.